If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. ** If you are logged in, most ads will not be displayed. **

Need Advise on various Linux Install

Hi all,

First off, Happy New Year.

Just recently bought a Gateway/Acer 16GB laptop that comes pre-installed with Windows8 and 500GB drive. I also bought a 1TB external drive.

I need to install several Linux Distros on it, Ubuntu, CentOS, Oracle Linux, Fedora, SuSE, that's just for starter. This is because I have several customers that uses different distros and I need to install Oracle on them. Besides the Linux distros, I also need Oracle on Windows running -

Can anyone please advise if this is achievable? I've read several blogs of issues installing Windows8 and Linux'es. I am looking at re-partitioning the Windows 8 HD and create another partition there for the Linux Distros but a bit anxious whether that will break Windows 8.

Performance is not an issue at the moment. Will using the 1TB external hard drive be a better option? Can I create boot partitions for each distros on the external drive and then boot off the external drive? Does the boot partition need to be ext or they have to be FAT32?

I want to be able to explore this option first before going to using a VirtualBox on Windows8 as the last option.

Maybe. It involves what microsoft refers to as 'Secure Boot'. If you have an option in the BIOS to disable it, you should do that before trying to install Linux. The link below gives some information on Secure Boot and Linux but it appears to be specific to HP. It does give some good general background info on Secure Boot:

If you don't see the option in your BIOS, you might try searching on the web for 'windows 8 disable secure boot and linux' and possibly include Gateway in it or contacting Gateway directly. My understanding is that you will not be able to install another OS if you do not have an option to disable Secure Boot, or if you have the option but don't use it. It doesn't matter if you are using an internal or external drive.

There really isn't much point in using a separate /boot partition for each distro. Why would you want to do that? You could create one separate /boot partition for all distros. The boot and system partitions will all need a Linux filesystem type and the current default on most is ext4.

Fat32 is usually used on flash drives and you can install Linux on them. Has limitations though.

I can be found either 40 miles west of Chicago, in Chicago, or in a galaxy far, far away.

Posts

12,106

If this is an x86 processor, you should be able to disable the "secure boot" in the BIOS. If it is an ARM system, then you are SOL without serious hacking. My advice? Return it for a refund and NEVER purchase a system that forces you to use UEFI/Secure Boot without the option to install non-UEFI operating systems (such as Linux), especially if you want to run anything but the operating system that comes with the computer...

Sometimes, real fast is almost as good as real time.
Just remember, Semper Gumbi - always be flexible!